One more post…

So the last post was going to be my last one for the night, but I just have to comment on tonight’s Rays game! I hate to admit it, but I gave up on them in the 7th inning after Chicago scored three to chase James Shields and take the lead. I told my wife that she could watch her Beverly Hills 90210 reruns and I went upstairs to do some things to get ready for the weekend. Amazingly, and despite my lack of faith, the Rays scored seven runs in the bottom of the 7th to win it 8-3, led by a grand slam by Carl Crawford!

They have now swept the Cubs, a team that had the best record in baseball, and was also the hottest team in baseball, when they arrived at the Trop on Tuesday. Lou Piniella is winless against his former team. Given how many times the Rays have let me down in the past, I keep expecting them to disappoint me, but this season everything is different. The Rays are now 43-29, a season high (and franchise high) 14 games above .500! It’s been an amazing ride so far, let’s hope they can keep it going!

Also, #1 overall pick Tim Beckham signed with the Rays today. He’s 18 years old and he gets a $6.15 million signing bonus. Let’s hope that he is more responsible with it than Josh Hamilton was nine years ago. I can’t wait to see Beckham play with the Princeton Devil Rays when they play the Burlington Royals this summer. Also, there should be some cards of him coming out soon now that he’s signed. I wonder if he’ll make it into Bowman Chrome, or if we’ll have to wait until one of the later Bowman releases this year. And why doesn’t Upper Deck make cards of draft picks?

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Beckham should be pretty good – as most of the Rays first rounders have been in the last few years. Just for fun, have you ever gone through the drafts from the last few years and see where those players are today? Its amazing how few of them actually make it.

It figures that after I got so excited about the Rays’ sweep of the Cubs, they go out and drop 2 out of 3 to the freakin’ Astros.

You’re right Gellman, it’s amazing how many no-name players show up on first-round draft lists from the past. It goes to show the importance of having a good scouting department, and a lot of luck! The Rays’ luck with first rounders actually isn’t as great as I wish it was. The only contributors that they have from their former first rounders are Upton and Longoria. The others are either stars for another team (Josh Hamilton), sucking for another team (Delmon Young), too injured to play (Rocco Baldelli), total busts (Dewon Brazelton and Wade Townsend), or still developing in the minors (Jeff Niemann and David Price).